Sample
  • The Witch Elm

  • A Novel
  • By: Tana French
  • Narrated by: Paul Nugent
  • Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (8,441 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Witch Elm  By  cover art

The Witch Elm

By: Tana French
Narrated by: Paul Nugent
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $27.00

Buy for $27.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
activate_primeday_promo_in_buybox_DT

Publisher's summary

Named a New York Times notable book of 2018 and a best book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature.

“Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet.” (The New York Times)

An “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) new stand-alone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher.

From the writer who "inspires cultic devotion in readers" (The New Yorker) and has been called "incandescent" by Stephen King, "absolutely mesmerizing" by Gillian Flynn, and "unputdownable" (People), comes a gripping new novel that turns a crime story inside out.

Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who's dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life - he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family's ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden - and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.

A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, when we no longer know who we are.

©2018 Tana French (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Editorial Reviews

A satisfying slow burn
I'm a huge fan of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series, so I was more than excited for her first-ever stand-alone novel, The Witch Elm. What it shares with her other books is that knack she has for creating an amazing sense of place: always modern-era Ireland, but so much more precise than just that. Narrator Paul Nugent is new to me, but he’s quickly become a favorite. He gives a very clear picture of the book’s central character, Toby—a 20-something year old who (up until now) seems to have been blessed with good luck in all things. When something terrible happens to him, this completely likable-enough guy goes through physical and emotional challenges, to say the least. As he recovers from his own trauma, he finds himself back at the old family compound, Ivy House, to care for his ailing uncle. True to form, French turns Ivy House into a character in and of itself. It’s not your typical haunted house, but is equally as unnerving, especially after a skull is discovered hidden in the hollow of a witch elm in the backyard. Toby’s former sense of ease in life has been obliterated, and now he must confront the fact that he may have had it all wrong his entire (privileged) life. —Tricia F., Audible Editor


I waited obsessively for Tana French's new standalone novel to arrive, so when it finally did it felt like a luxury to linger so long in its unsettling world. It's an absorbing, intricate mystery about a young man whose happy-go-lucky worldview is upended by a devastating attack. Left with holes in his memories and physical challenges, he must reckon with his past when a skull turns up in a tree on his uncle's estate. The combination of luminous narration and prose is magic—and, no spoilers, but take a listen and hear why The Cut called it eerily prescient about the current cultural conversation. —Kat J., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The Witch Elm

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,256
  • 4 Stars
    2,368
  • 3 Stars
    1,609
  • 2 Stars
    697
  • 1 Stars
    511
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,683
  • 4 Stars
    1,718
  • 3 Stars
    757
  • 2 Stars
    300
  • 1 Stars
    261
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,756
  • 4 Stars
    2,035
  • 3 Stars
    1,496
  • 2 Stars
    798
  • 1 Stars
    618

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Yawn

Such a promising premise.
But
It was pointless , meandering, and slow.
Narrator did a great job , though.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

85 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

a good psyhocological thriller (not horror)

This year, I kicked off my Month of Horror (aka October) with The Witch Elm because the blurb made me think it was going to be a good way to start. The book wasn't really about horror. It's more of a murder mystery/psychological thriller with no supernatural or spooky creatures. However, my disappointment aside, it was a nice read and I enjoyed the twists and turns the plot took.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Narration!

I think this narrator was spectacular. His performance really enhanced the story. Another great one from Tana French.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

PTSD palpable

Excellent emotions of confusion. The reader is well lead with a confused closed head injury. You begin to see the world differently very suttle permiss.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Okay

The ending was not what I expected, a bit disappointing. The story line was unusual

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love Tana French!

This story develops slowly but then sucks you in to the mystery of it. You think that you have it all figured out and then another reveal happens and you have to rethink everything you thought you knew. The character development is phenomenal and the reading sublime. You will remember this book as if you actually knew the people and places. A great book for anyone that treasures psychological intrigue with the emphasis on the psychological.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

disappointing ending

loved the story, the character dev and narration. ending left me cold and really disappointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slightly suspenseful, but slow and anticlimactic

The overall plot I enjoyed. However, I felt it was dragged out and almost painfully slow to keep reading. Even when you find out what happened, it comes about slowly and is followed up by another slow drag of the ending.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • R.
  • 02-18-20

A slow, winding, whimsical, kind of boring not very mysterious mystery

So this book takes a long time to get anywhere, and when it finally does, it doesn’t feel like any of it pays off. The main character is unlikable, and the narrator doesn’t help- I listened to this on a faster speed just to get the pacing to a point where it didn’t feel like it just droned on and on. I usually like how French balances kind of twee, whimsical descriptions with the darker edges of the mysteries that she writes, but this one just felt too sing-song-y, meandering and sickly sweet at times, reading like a whiny teenagers diary. I’d be interested in one plot, then it would shift and a seemingly new plot would start, then it would shift again and another plot would start... by the time they wrapped them all up I was uninvested in any of it. Still, I finished it and didn’t hate it so mediocre stars all around. If you’re looking for background noise, this might fit the bill.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ml
  • 05-07-19

Upsetting, fascinating story

Upsetting, fascinating story.
Twists & turns, yes. But subtle ones.
More of a moody novel than mystery.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!